This post is the second in a two-part series about Digital Disruption. For the full story, read Part One.

In our last post about digital disruption, we focused on the importance of maintaining a pioneer spirit when it comes to implementing transformative digital projects in the context of fleet management and the essential consideration of an organization’s customers in determining the right path to take. These two principles comprise two of four key areas touched on in a recent report from Fujitsu entitled The Digital Transformation PACT Report. 1 In this post, we focus on the essential contribution of people inside the organization and the importance of a clearly-defined purpose in evolving transformative digital projects.

Campaign success depends on people outside and inside the organization

While the individuals outside of one’s organization are clearly primary drivers for the evolution of companies today, the individuals inside and organization are essential in managing digital disruption effectively, and many companies are taking note. According to the PACT study, nine out of ten organizations are taking steps to broaden their digital expertise. Sometimes these steps occur pre-hire, through selective recruitment and job fairs at specialized schools and training facilities as opposed to large, generalized institutions. Sometimes they occur after the hire, through required professional development and investments in continued employee education, even for those in non-technical roles such as accounting, finance, and marketing.

The takeaway: If you’re not developing your people, you are doing your customers a disservice. Despite the large percentage of companies that are taking steps to broaden their human resource base of digital expertise, more than two-thirds say that their organization is still lacking in digital skills. Digital mastery will soon become commoditized; therefore, the right time to foster growth in the realm of digital competence is now.

Transformative digital projects must be purposeful, or risk loss both now and in the future

Successful organizations know that the implementation of digital initiatives, simply for the sake of implementing digital initiatives, yields lackluster results. Arbitrarily-executed digital projects lack focus and direction. Beginning a transformative digital project without the end in mind can cost companies significant amounts of time, money and human resources yet generate minimal results. The folly of permitting fruitless digital disruption within an organization taints an organization’s reputation and discourages potential new customers as well as promising new talent. Fortunately, according to the PACT study, a full 90% of organizations surveyed have a clearly-defined digital strategy. In addition, a large majority (88%) of those surveyed felt that their leadership teams maintained a clear view of all digital transformation projects.

Those projects tend mainly to be focused on the creation of new digital processes that sit alongside existing ones (59%) or that are used to augment those original processes (58%). Only a third (37%) result in the creation of entirely new ways of doing things, which shows that organizations have a strong focus on ensuring that the disruption caused during implementation is minimized (87%).

While the report goes on to acknowledge that sometimes, “unsanctioned” digital projects that are not tied to the overall digital strategy do indeed trip up many organizations, it is worth noting that actionable digital strategies are becoming more the norm than the exception – to the benefit of both the company and its customers.

The takeaway: If your organization has not yet defined a digital strategy, it is likely falling behind. At TouchStar, our digital strategy is literally posted on our office wall:

We innovate to drive growth and market appeal, and we continuously improve everything we do. We move with speed [and] agility and embrace change. We have the courage to take risks and grow by learning from our successes and failures. We produce competitive solutions…and our progressive technology framework simplifies tomorrow’s automation to ensure we remain relevant to our clients’ competitive futures.

With no defined digital strategy, a company can neither justify nor quantify its digital initiatives, which can result in serious accountability issues with customers, employees…and with the Board.

How tolerant is your automation solutions provider to digital disruption? If you’ve been noticing a lack of focus or agility from your provider, maybe it’s time for a change. Whether your organization is barely on the cusp of digital transformation, or it is undergoing yet another digital evolution, TouchStar provides scalable solutions that can be introduced or expanded as your fleet’s capacity to automate grows. Contact TouchStar today to begin the conversation about managing your fleet’s digital needs.

Certified Partners

About TouchStar

TouchStar is a multinational logistics and workforce automation company whose mobility software and systems transform business productivity in the Oil & Gas, Field Service, Transportation, and Consumer Goods industries.